From the Washington Post
Field peas
(2020) Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Hot Sauce Vinaigrette
This do-ahead recipe is adapted from “Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration.” She uses canned black-eyed peas. I’m doing it with fresh peas. Our peas may not be black-eyed peas, but they share similar qualities.
Notes from the book:
“Black-eyed peas hold a special significance in the heart of every African-American. We eat them for good luck on New Year’s in a rice dish known as hoppin’ John. That tradition comes from a long history of black-eyed peas symbolizing luck and prosperity in Africa, where they’re part of spiritual ceremonies too. They’re a part of our culinary DNA. And they’re delicious.
“Black-eyed peas are tender, skin to center, and this helps them soak up sauces. Because they’re nice and mild, I drench them with a hot sauce dressing, honeyed yet sharp with garlic and mustard. In this salad, cucumbers and onion balance the peas’ creaminess with crunch, and tomatoes burst juiciness. Down South, we call this a sitting salad. It can sit on the summer picnic table without wilting, so it’s the perfect potluck dish. Get ready for this salad to become one of your favorites.”
(2018) Brunswick Salad
David Larkworthy demoed this recipe at the Morningside Farmers Market in 2010 and I still remember it every year when okra arrives in season. It looks a little complicated because it’s a riff on Brunswick stew, a mixture of lots of flavors, but it really goes together pretty quickly and will surprise anyone who thinks okra can only be served cooked.
Recipes for Brunswick Stew are some of the most frequent requests we get at the AJC. Here’s a delicious summer variation, adapted from a recipe Chef David Larkworthy of Five Seasons Brewery as demonstrated at the Morningside Farmers Market this July. The okra in this recipe is raw, and it’s delicious. But here’s a tip: don’t expect this salad to keep. The okra is fresh and crisp when first cut, but after a day in the refrigerator, it starts to exude that sap that makes it such a great thickener, and that’s not a texture you want in your Brunswick Salad.
Duane Nutter’s Peas and Rice with Andouille Sausage
Purple-hulled pink-eye peas. I could eat them morning, noon and night. This recipe is adapted from one published in Atlanta magazine. The original calls for dried red beans, but it adapts perfectly to fresh field peas of any sort. Duane Nutter is executive chef of One Flew South at the Atlanta airport.
Field Pea or Watermelon Salsa
No, that’s not a typo. This week we’ve got a salsa recipe that works with either your watermelon or your field peas. If you’re like me and want to eat your field peas just as field peas this week, then hold onto this recipe if you get to the point you want to do something different with those pretty peas.
Saladu Ñebbe (Field Pea Salad)
The longer this salad sits, the better it tastes, so let it marinate for an hour or more before serving. It’s adapted from a recipe in Saveur magazine.
Ideas for Crowder Peas
Crowder peas! Yum. Before I give you a formal recipe, let me just say that my favorite way to fix crowder peas is so simple, and involves those green beans in today’s box as well. Trim and break up the green beans and toss them and the crowder peas in lightly salted water. Boil until Read More…
Field Pea Tamales
This is an adaptation of an African street food dish called Abala. In Senegal, the little packets are wrapped in banana leaves. At one time I had a banana tree in my yard, and could harvest my own banana leaves for wrappers. I used them to make a Burmese dish of steamed sweet rice – yum. But I digress. If you don’t have your own banana tree, there are plenty of banana leaves for sale at the DeKalb Farmers Market in both fresh and frozen form, and probably at any store that caters to a Caribbean or African customer base.
Or – make it simple – use corn husks as I suggest here. Those are pretty ubiquitous these days.
Just reading through the recipe will remind you that many cultures have leaf-wrapped dishes with a starch – like field peas or corn masa – surrounding a savory filling. And the relish here? If this were a recipe from Mexico, we’d be calling it pico de gallo.
Minestrone with Field Peas and Almond Pistou
Adapted from a recipe published in the New York Times: September 28, 2010.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
Shrimp and Southern Pea Salad
Now on to the real stars of this week’s box – the field peas.
You can use any southern pea in this recipe, but the cooking time will vary by variety and how mature the peas were when harvested. Our fresh pink-eye peas should cook pretty quickly.
Hands on: 20 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4